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Special ceremony allows mom with cancer to see daughter’s graduation day

Anna Jeffries
Published 6:06 p.m. ET April 22, 2014

Evie Shumaker, 17, celebrated her graduation from Newark Digital Academy in her mother Melissa’s hospital room. Melissa was diagnosed with stage-four pancreatic cancer in March and was thrilled to see her youngest daughter graduate. Evie posed with her mother and her father James for a photo after the celebration.
(Photo:
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NEWARK – Evie Shumaker celebrated her high school graduation in a small room at Licking Memorial Hospital. “Pomp and Circumstance” was played on a cell phone and she was the only one wearing a cap and gown.

But it was exactly the way she wanted it because her mother, Melissa Shumaker, was there.

Evie, 17, attends Newark Digital Academy and was originally scheduled to graduate on May 31. But when she told her teachers that her mom was battling stage-four, inoperable pancreatic cancer, they decided to organize an impromptu graduation celebration Monday.

“It’s been really hard because I didn’t think she would actually see me graduate,” Evie said. “So the fact that the school did that for me and my mom was able to see me — it’s one of those moments in my life that I’m never going to forget.”

From the time Evie enrolled at Newark Digital, Melissa and her husband James were very dedicated to their daughter’s education, said Travis Ponn, the graduation coach at the academy.

“Her mom has worked really hard and was really involved,” Ponn said. “We knew it was very important.”

Jason Dunbar, the economics and government teacher at the academy, has known Evie for two years and was always impressed by her commitment to academics.

Even when her mom was first diagnosed with cancer, she worked hard to get her school work done and be there for her family, he said.

When Evie contacted him on Friday and told him her mom was having a rough time, Dunbar wanted to do more than just offer up prayers. He talked with Ponn and the other teachers and decided to see how close she was to graduating.

Evie had completed all her state tests and earned all the necessary credits. She was already on the graduation list up for approval at the next school board meeting, said Newark Digital Director John Lutz.

“We thought it was the right thing to do to make sure her mother knows she will be a 2014 graduate,” Lutz said.

Dunbar contacted Evie Monday afternoon and told him they wanted to bring over a diploma and celebrate her graduation with her family.

When she told her mother what they were planning, Melissa wanted to know what her final GPA was. When she found out her daughter had an A average, she was thrilled, Evie said.

While Melissa rested, several family members and friends picked up a cake and arrived at the hospital. Dunbar and Ponn arrived with a cap and gown.

“It was a really awesome moment,” Dunbar said. “Her mom was beaming with pride and joy and it was an amazing thing to see.”

Melissa had seen her two older daughters graduate and was thrilled to see her youngest in a cap and gown, Evie said.

“She ended up crying after they left because she was able to see her baby graduate,” she said. “God really blessed me yesterday. It meant the world to everybody.”

Dunbar said he was honored to make such a difference in a student’s life.

“To us it was the difference between Evie saying, ‘Yes, I graduated and I wish my mom had seen it,’ and, ‘Yes, my mom got to see me graduate,’” he said. “They had both worked hard and it was a moment we could allow them to share together.”

Although he was moved by the entire experience, Ponn said he was especially moved by a sign outside of Melissa’s hospital room.

“It said, ‘We only speak about life in this room,’” he said. “That really stuck with us. It encapsulated what that day was all about.”